Terminating the lease immediately.

[Chinmay J.]

This is for a property that is rented out in Virginia (Loudoun County).  I represented a landlord a few months ago to rent out his rambler.  Turns out after about a month of the tenants living in the property, they complained about their rug being soaked in water. and water on the kitchen and bedroom floor. The landlord stopped by and noticed that there was indeed water. There is no damage to the property.  A licensed plumber was dispatched, who couldn't find anything wrong the property or locate the source of the water. The plumber said that he may have to open the plumbing to see what's going on under the hood. 

Trusting the tenants at their word that this is a legitimate leak somewhere in the property, and not some shenanigans, does the landlord have the right to immediately cancel the lease, and perhaps pay them the balance on days remaining (lease is month to month) stating the reason that should flooding occur again, the premises are potentially unlivable.  Its a very small place. About 900 sq feet. So there are no other bedrooms and bathrooms. Just 1 bedroom, 1 bath and kitchen area.  If the landlord does cancel the lease immediately, does he have to provide them with living accommodations? 

[Marcia Maynard]

What are you thinking! That would be the wrong tack to take. No need to terminate the lease. The landlord has a legal agreement to uphold and a responsibility to provide habitable housing. The right thing to do would be to get on task to finding the root cause of the problem and addressing it.

If it's a problem with the plumbing and significant areas of the flooring, walls, or ceilings need to be opened up and it becomes too disruptive to the tenants or hazardous, an offer to house the family in a hotel for the time being would be in order.

However, mystery water soaking a carpet brings to mind an incident in one of our properties... the tenant's brother-in-law hooked up his washing machine and didn't secure the water exhaust hose properly. A whole washer full of water spilled out and dumped water that made it's way to the kitchen and some carpeted areas of the home. The tenant wasn't going to do much about it except soak up the water with bath towels (inadequate), until the water reached one of our water alarms near the water heater and the tenant called us because it was late at night and he couldn't stand the noise. We took care of the problem and charged the tenant for the cost of the rental of the turbo fans and dehumidifier. That's when we added another clause to our rental agreement that requires temamts to notify us in advance if they plan to install large appliances. That way we can be there to make sure the installation is properly done and there is no damage to our walls and woodwork.

Water extraction from carpet is best done by truck mounted equipment which a professional carpet cleaner would have. Then raise up the carpet and use turbo fans and dehumidifiers to mitigate the damage. Don't let the carpet remain wet, or mold might take hold and adjacent structures could become water damaged as well.

Send a plumber who is skilled at "service plumbing" (as opposed to "new construction") and is well seasoned in working with the quirks of older homes. That kind of plumber should be able to easily determine if the water is leaking from the plumbing system. Also, check the home's drainage system... roofs, gutters, downspouts, drainage routes. Any water features in the home? (aquariums, waterbeds, water coolers, water fountains, etc.). Ask the tenants where they think the water is coming from. Do they hear any noise of water running in the walls or elsewhere? Is the water clean water or dirty water? Act swiftly!